In this episode, Oden speaks to Philippe Alcoy, an editor of Revolution Permanente's international section, about the War in Ukraine. Philippe describes how the war has developed into a stalemate, how pessimism is setting in among Ukraine's allies in the West, and how we need an independent, working-class solution out of the conflict — in this proxy war, in which NATO and the U.S. are fighting Russia on Ukrainian territory, there are no progressive sides. We also discuss the broader glob...

Will socialism create a society of freeloaders? Are socialists hypocritical for using iPhones? Does socialism mean we have to give up all our possessions and live under totalitarianism? These are the kinds of questions leftists get asked all the time, and that Oden and Left Voice member Madeleine Freeman tackle in this episode. Happy Holidays!Learn More:- 5 Questions About Socialism You'll Get at the Holiday Dinner Table (And How to Answer Them)- Stalinism, Anti-Communism, and the Fate ...

In this episode, Oden speaks to Left Voice member and Princeton Postdoctoral Fellow in Latin American Studies Juan Ferre about Javier Milei, the far-right libertarian economist who has just been inaugurated as president of Argentina. Juan describes how Argentina's economic and political crises set the stage for Milei's rise, the parallels that this moment has with the 1990s, and the failures of the establishment parties to pose an alternative to the status quo. We also discuss what lessons th...

In this episode, Oden speaks to Left Voice editor and PSC-CUNY member James Hoff and Left Voice member and native Detroiter Tristan Taylor about the historic UAW victory against the Big 3 automakers. James and Tristan explain the context of the strike, how the UAW won, and some of the strike's limitations. Importantly, they discuss what the victory means for U.S. labor and for the working class, and what lessons we can draw from fight. Unions, including the UAW, need to break free from ...

In this episode, Oden talks to Nathaniel Flakin, a historian in Berlin, about the history of socialist anti-Zionist Jews. Nathaniel explains the context surrounding the rise of Zionism, including the age of nationalism, imperialism, and colonization, as well as why socialism is fundamentally incompatible with Zionism. Importantly, Oden and Nathaniel explore the lessons we can draw from this history, and why the solution to the conflict is to fight for a single, secular, socialist Palestine on...

On today’s episode, Oden talk to Maryam Alaniz, a PhD student and writer for Left Voice’s international section, about the struggle in Palestine. Maryam explains how the rightward shift in Israeli politics and decline of U.S. hegemony globally has sowed the seeds for the current conflict. They discuss how support for Palestinian liberation does not mean supporting the tactics and strategy of Hamas, and why popular support for the struggle in Palestine has surged around the world. Finally, the...

This episode is a reading of an article by two Chilean socialists from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (PTR), Pablo Torres and Dauno Totoro, about the CIA-backed military coup in Chile in 1973. Salvador Allende’s election was the most radical attempt to achieve socialism through elections and gradual reforms. This article, titled “Chile 1973: Was victory possible?” examines what was behind the coup, the lead-up to Allende's overthrow, and what the lessons are for the Left. To learn mo...

In this episode, Oden is joined by Left Voice member Enid Brain to discuss the ongoing entertainment industry strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA). They discuss the key lessons this struggle has for the labor movement, what the tasks are for the Left, and why entertainment workers need to go beyond just fighting for a better contract in the here and now. To learn more: - https://www.leftvoice.org/entertainment-industry-strikes-show-the-power-and-po...

In this episode, Oden talks to author and independent Marxist historian Doug Greene about his new book “Stalinism and the Dialectics of Saturn: Anti-Communism, Marxism, and the Fate of the Soviet Union.” They discuss what characterized Stalinism, the approaches to understanding it which incorrectly framed it as an inevitability, and how these explanations fail to take a historical materialist perspective. Most importantly, Greene explains why Stalinism is not the inevitable end road of s...

In this episode, Left Voice member Ben Douglass interviews Richard Hooker, a former UPS inside worker now the principle officer of Teamster Local 623. They discuss the UPS contract struggle, which is heating up after the July 5 collapse in negotiations. They discuss the impending strike, organizing part-time workers, the need for a working-class political party, the importance of workers taking up the fight for Black lives and other struggles, and other important topics.Note: An earlier versi...